Oktoberfest in the U.S.: We Have Stein-Holding Contests and Lederhosen, Too

Oktoberfest celebrations around the country spread well beyond the traditional two-week German holiday.

In Germany, this annual beer festival begins in mid-September and wraps up by early October. But stateside celebrations continue over the course of the next month with everything from stein-holding competitions to lederhosen photo contests. Prost!

Chicago, Illinois

In a town with a strong German heritage, Oktoberfest celebrations kick off nearly a month prior to their German counterparts and continue nearly a month after, spreading over a full two months rather than the motherland’s traditional two weeks. One of the largest takes place at the authentic Hofbrauhaus in Rosemont, just outside the city, where the calendar is packed every day through October with tuba quartets, traditional German dancers, and the venue’s famed Stein-Holding Contest.

This charming southern Wisconsin town celebrates its Oktoberfest from September 27 through October 5. This year marks its 53rd fest, which kicks off with the annual Festmaster’s Ball celebrating the Oktoberfest Royal Family. La Crosse’s Oktoberfest Royal Family is a major tradition in these parts (there’s Festmaster and Frau, Miss Oktoberfest and a Mrs. Oktoberfest, a Maple Leaf Parade Marshall, and more), and this is the event at where they'll all convene for the first time.

Follow the lederhosen two hours east of Seattle to this small-town celebration with a big draw. This year’s festivities take place over the first three weekends in October, and every Saturday there’s a noon-time parade followed by a keg-tapping to kick off the weekend’s festivities. Thereafter, the focus is on live music, hours and hours of it: Bands begin at high noon and continue through 11 p.m. each day of the festival.

Alpine Village—which claims to be the biggest Oktoberfest in California—is celebrating its 45th anniversary of hosting the massive celebration, which continues weekends through October 26. This year, the fest’s organizers have flown in Die Merkershauesener Blaskapelle and the Alpine Brass Connection Oom Pah Pah bands directly from Germany, and the fest will once again be emceed by tongue-in-cheek host HEiNO! (a mock-celebrity from Baden Baden).

This year marks the first-ever Oktoberfest for this charming Finger Lakes city. As the heart of a rich community of microbreweries, Ithaca plans to show off its regional brews at the October 27 event with a best-beer championship starring a half-dozen local breweries. Rounding out this promising festival is a lederhosen photo contest and authentic sauerkraut makers on-site to offer tastes (and wafts) of the homeland.

Just outside San Antonio, this hamlet has been celebrating “the wurst of times” at its annual Wurstfest since its foundation back in 1961. Today it draws tens of thousands of visitors and raises tens of thousands of dollars for charity. This year’s Wurstfest takes place slightly after the traditional Oktoberfest: November 1–10.